The Firemen's Ball/Hoří, Má Panenko (1967) - Forman and Co. slice up communism to hilarious effect in outright masterpiece

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A bodacious young woman removes her dress before a man wiping sweat from his forehead on this Soviet-colored poster for Milos Forman's The Firemen's Ball

The Firemen's Ball centers on a festive ball for volunteer firemen and their wives in a small town in Czechoslovakia at the town hall, where a beauty pageant is attempted to be carried out, as gifts are stolen, and an old man's house burns down.

 

The Firemen's Ball is written by Jaroslav Papusek (Black Peter/Cerný Petr (1964)), Ivan Passer (Silver Bears (1977)) and Czech master filmmaker, co-writer/director Milos Forman (Black Peter), with Václav Sasek (Muka Obraznosti (1990)) contributing story elements. The original title translates to, 'fire, my lady'.

The film is an eminent exhibition of human blunder and stupidity. It is terrifically comical. Here the art of putting acting amateur 'real people' in front of a camera for a feature-length period has one of its most impressive, fantastic results ever: Forman and Co. succeed in lifting a simple premise up to becoming a social-realist allegory about dysfunction and incompetence in a communist-run system, and the portrayal clearly hit its mark.

The Firemen's Ball is Forman's arrival as a master filmmaker. An incredible film you shouldn't miss!

Related posts:

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Goya's Ghosts (2006) - Forman's under-appreciated last major picture  

Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Amadeus (1984) or, The Fool Genius and his Teacher

Hair (1979) - Reflect on 1960s youth counter-culture in Forman's infectious musical 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Forman's 1970s gold-rimmed classic

 

Roger Ebert presents the film in this 14-minute video

 

Cost: 65k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain - but certainly a box office success of some sort

[The Firemen's Ball was released 15 December (Czechoslovakia) and runs 73 minutes. Forman, Passer and Papusek were not able to concentrate on writing after the success of Loves of a Blonde (1965) and headed to the little town of Vrchlabí for quiet. Here they attended a firemen's ball for the fun of it. According to Forman; "What we saw was such a nightmare that we couldn't stop talking about it. So we abandoned what we were writing on to start this script." Shooting took place in Vrchlabí, Czechoslovakia, now Northern Czech Republic. Most of the actors were amateurs, and many of the local firemen volunteers appeared. The film was highly controversial upon release: The Italian co-producer Carlo Ponti withdrew his support for the film upon seeing it, thereby risking Forman a 10-year prison sentence in Czechoslovakia for "economic damage to the state". Forman drove to Paris and found support from Francois Truffaut, who bought the international distribution rights and saved him. Firemen across Czechoslovakia were also outraged by their portrayal, and Forman toured the country to try to calm them down and describe the film's true aim. It sold 750k tickets in Czechoslovakia before the Soviet invasion of the country in 1968 and subsequent ban. The film was released in North America in a subtitled version and a dubbed version, and was also released in many other Western markets. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, lost to War and Peace from the USSR. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Forman left for America after the film's release, and it impressed Michael Douglas enough to hire him for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Forman first returned with Taking Off (1971). The Firemen's Ball is fresh at 91 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Firemen's Ball?

Miss Congeniality (2000) - Caine, Bullock and Shatner shine in low-brow romp

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Star Sandra Bullock looks radiant on this poster for Donald Petrie's Miss Congeniality

FBI's agent 'Dirty Harriet' Grace Hart is tasked with infiltrating the Miss America pageant in order to avert an attack from the mysterious 'citizen' killer.

Miss Congeniality is written by Marc Lawrence (Noelle (2019)), Katie Ford (Little House on the Prairie (2005, miniseries)) and Cary Lucas (Pride & Joy (1995, TV-series)) and directed by Donald Petrie (Mystic Pizza (1988).
The high-concept idea that runs Miss Congeniality doesn't have much in terms of unpredictability or plausibility to its credit, and especially the FBI environment it conjures up seems grotesquely improbable. The sincerity of the film's morale and the inevitable kisses are also very slight.
But if you can accept Miss Congeniality with the appropriate low-brow expectations, it offers something besides these deficiencies:
Sandra Bullock (Forces of Nature (1999)) is as endearing as ever, (although some of her comedy misses the mark); Benjamin Bratt (Snitch (2013)) is handsome and fine as her romantic interest; William Shatner (Barbary Coast (1975-76)) is a bowl of laughs as the pageant show's host, a ham part that's not far from Shatner's own celebrity persona. And then there's also Michael Caine (The Wrong Box (1966)), who is phenomenal and hilarious; his scenes are generally the film's best. Miss Congeniality esteems itself as gay-friendly, satirical, decent popcorn-munching fun fare.

Watch a short trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $
Box office: 212.7 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.72 times its cost)
[Miss Congeniality premiered 14 December (Hollywood) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting took place from May - July 2000 in Texas, including San Antonio and Austin, and in New York City. The film opened #5, behind fellow new release Cast Away, holdover hits What Women Want and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and fellow new release The Family Man, to a 10 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #3 and spent a total of 6 consecutive weekends in the top 5, grossing 106.8 mil. $ (50.2 % of the total gross). The film's Box Office Mojo international sheet is regrettably incomplete, but its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets appear to have been Germany with 17 mil. $ (8 %) and the UK with 14.1 mil. $ (6.6 %). The film was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, among a few other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. Bullock returned as star in sequel Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005) with John Pasquin directing. Petrie returned with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)). Bullock returned first in Murder by Numbers (2002). Miss Congeniality is rotten at 42 % with a 5.12/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Miss Congeniality?

I Feel Pretty (2018) - God bless Amy Schumer

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+ Best Comedy of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year

Amy Schumer looking great but more importantly looking as if she feels like a million bucks fills out the poster for Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein's I Feel Pretty

Renee is a young woman in New York, who works on the online side of a major, upscale cosmetics company and struggles with low self-confidence. When she hits her head in a spinning class accident, the result is a booming self-confidence, as Renee is certain that her looks have suddenly drastically improved.

I Feel Pretty is the feature directing debut for writer-directors Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (Never Been Kissed (1999)), who have been writing partners for over 20 years. The film is a high concept comedy (think Freaky Friday (2003), Shallow Hal (2001), Trading Places (1983) or Big (1988), the latter of which is actually used actively in two very funny scenes in the film), which seems like it could have come from a typical joke from the film's propellant star Amy Schumer (Snatched (2017)).
But whereas Schumer's on-stage act would have made crude payoffs off of the 'fat girl in the spinning class' accident', the filmmakers wisely create sympathetic characters with issues that ring true here, present them with sincerity and never ridicule. I Feel Pretty feels like the perfect film for Schumer, who is terrific, and whose character's body insecurity reflects feelings and problems that so many will identify with the world over. There is a sorry irony in the fact that Schumer's wildly hyped first film Trainwreck (2015) was cruder and less meaningful but a bigger hit, while I Feel Pretty is a more buoyant, rounded and resounding film - but also a much more criticized and less commercially successful one.
Renee builds a romantic relationship with Rory Scovel (Good at Life (2015), TV movie), who also feels very real as Ethan, who does zumba and has his own self-image insecurity. Renee leaves her crummy office existence with funny co-worker Adrian Martinez (Focus (2015)) to rule the company's reception with a surplus of positive energy that baffles its privileged, attractive CEO Michelle Williams (A Hole in One (2004)) and brother Tom Hopper (Leopard (2013)). In her free time, Renee also injects a new vivacity into her group of friends played by the very affable pair, Aidy Bryant (The Big Sick (2017)) and Busy Philipps (Vice Principals (2016-17)).
I Feel Pretty is a great time out whether you go by yourself or with friends, it is a real crowd-pleaser; it has many infectious laughs and an uplifting message of self-appreciation and a wider understanding of what can be pretty and attractive, which it hits home with a wealth of 
charm. Don't miss it.

Related posts:

2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch Schumer present the film and a trailer for it on Ellen here in this video

Cost: 32 mil. $
Box office: 88.4 mil. $ and counting
= Box office success (2.76 times the cost)
[I Feel Pretty premiered 19 April (Australia, Israel, Lebanon, Singapore) and runs 110 minutes. STX Entertainment bought the North-American distribution rights at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival for 15 mil. $. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits A Quiet Place and Rampage, for a 16 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#3-#4) and grossed 48.7 mil. $ (55.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.1 mil. $ (8 %) and Australia with 6.8 mil. $ (7.7 %). The film gets no French release, as the French rights have been sold to Netflix, who debuted it on their streaming platform there on 20 July. It has one market left to open in: Italy on 22 August. Kohn/Silverstein do not have an announced next project yet. Schumer is set to star with Steve Carell and Nicole Kidman in Rebecca Miller's upcoming She Came to Me, which has no production or release dates out yet. I Feel Pretty is rotten at 34 % with a 5.1/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Feel Pretty?

La Dolce Vita (1960) - Fellini's immortal masterpiece

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One of the fabulous, glamorous posters for Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

QUICK REVIEW:

A Roman journalist spends a week chasing women, partying, interviewing a Swedish movie star, covering a religious mass hysteria and reconnecting with his father.

The 7th feature by Italian master filmmaker Federico Fellini (La Strada (1955)) is a true masterpiece and a multi-faceted salute to beauty and the myriads of variety in life; to eroticism, the woman, the city and the night.
Anouk Aimée (8½ (1963)), Marcello Mastroianni (What?/Che? (1972)) and Anita Ekberg (The French Sex Murders/Casa d'Appuntamento (1972)) are equally splendid in the film, which also has one of the most fantastic and memorable beginnings and endings in cinema history.
La Dolce Vita [which translates to 'the sweet life'] is written by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano (The Tenth Victim/La Decima Vittima (1965)), Tullio Pinelli (8½) and Brunello Rondi (Sex Life in a Women's Prison/Prigione di Donne (1974)), with uncredited work done by great Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Passolini (The Gospel According to St. Matthew/Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (1964)). - Don't miss this magical piece of cinema history!

Related posts:

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Anita Ekberg in Rome's Trevi fountain in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

Marcello Mastroianni on the beach in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

Here's a trailer for the film

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 19.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown (likely a big to huge hit)
[La Dolce Vita was released February 5 (Italy) and runs ca. 180 minutes. The film was mostly shot in Rome's Cinecittà studio, where more than 80 sets were reportedly created, making it a very costly film to mount. The Trevi fountain scene was, however, shot in the actual fountain, either in January or March, (sources differ), - but the water was definitely so freezing that Mastroianni had to wear a wetsuit under his costume (and chug vodka), while Ekberg completed it in just her gown. La Dolce Vita is also famous for coining the term 'paparazzi', which is the name of a tabloid character in the film. The film became a target for censorship: It was condemned by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano and banned in Spain for 15 years. But it was also hailed by scores of critics; it won the Palme d'Or in Cannes and the Best Costume Design Oscar and is recognized as one of the finest films ever. It was also nominated for direction, screenplay and art direction, which it lost to Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story, William Inge for Splendour in the Grass and The Hustler, respectively. A cost or world total for the film is not to be found online, but there seems little doubt that the film was a hit, probably a big or huge hit. La Dolce Vita is certified fresh at 96 % with a 9.1 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of La Dolce Vita?

Death in Venice/Morte a Venezia (1971) - Bogarde shines in Visconti's adaptation masterpiece

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An original French poster for Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice

QUICK REVIEW:

A German composer travels to a spa hotel in Venice for his health, and is there encapsulated in the youth of a Polish family staying there, Tadzio, while a mysterious illness sweeps the sinking city.

Death in Venice is an adaptation of great German writer Thomas Mann's (Buddenbrooks (1901)) 1912 novella of the same name, adapted by Nicola Badalucco (The Damned/La Caduta Degli Dei (1969)) and Italian master filmmaker Luchino Visconti (The Leopard/Il Gattopardo (1963)).
Dirk Bogarde (Victim (1961)) is outstanding as the Gustav Mahler-inspired protagonist, giving what is in my opinion one of the all time greatest actor's performances, in this beautiful, serene masterpiece of the human desire for beauty and death. Mahler's music is also used to great effect in the film.
Piero Tosi (The Damned) created the magnificent, Oscar-nominated costumes; Pasqualino De Santis (Lucky Luciano (1973)) photographed the resplendent images.
Death in Venice is an eminently ambiguous and complex ode to beauty in the world. Never to be missed.

Related review:

Luchino Visconti: The Leopard/Il Gattopardo (1963) - The greatest film ever made?

Dirk Bogarde with Björn Andrésen (The Simple-Minded Murderer/Den Enfaldige Mördaren (1982)) as Tadzio in Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice

Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: 2 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[During shooting of the sun-chair scene seen on the picture above, Visconti struggled to find the right whitening creme for Bogarde's face: He eventually made the actor wear a paint that burned him, because it was unfit to wear on skin, but which Visconti thought just right. Bogarde was paid 0.5 mil. $, 25 % of the film's entire budget. Warner Bros., who were to handle distribution in North America, were nervous about the subject matter and wanted to write the film off, until the London premiere was attended by Elizabeth II and Princess Anne. The film was shown in competition in Cannes, where it was given the 25th Birthday Prize, (also for the director's entire work), while Joseph Losey's The Go-Between won the main prize. Tosi lost the costume Oscar to Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). Death in Venice is fresh at 76 % with a 7.3 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Death in Venice?

The Great Beauty/La Grande Bellezza (2013) or, Jep Gambardelli's Rome

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+ Best Rome Movie of the Year
+ Best Italian Movie of the Year

Toni Servillo sits by the majestic statue in front of the National Museum in Rome at night on the poster for Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty

Jep Gambardelli is the king of Rome's night life, but he is also an aging bachelor, who has only written one book decades ago.

This soft-mannered, yet pointed vivant, his memories, philosophies and attitude to life is truly worth spending a couple of hours with. He is the character but the film is a sprawling ode to Rome and to life in general. The Great Beauty is an overwhelmingly beautiful, sensorial film with breathtaking photography by Luca Bigazzi (This Must Be the Place (2011)) and an eclectic music universe by Lele Marchitelli (Italian Gangsters (2015)).
Toni Servillo (Il Divo (2008)) as Gambardelli and every actor beneath him act flawlessly. The film alternately chastises contemporary society (mostly) affectionately and engulfs us in otherworldly beauty. It deliberately blends eternal qualities and the notion of the sacrosanct, a higher plane, and earthly beauty with human vanity, idiocy, the ridiculous. Of course it owes a lot to Italian master filmmaker Federico Fellini and especially his Rome-set masterpiece La Dolce Vita (1960), but that seems inevitable for any ambitious Rome-set production dealing with life, love and beauty in modern society. The Great Beauty is its own film.
It is co-written by Umberto Contarello (This Must Be the Place) and director Paolo Sorrentino (The Consequences of Love/Le Conseguenze dell'Amore (2004)). It is a succulent, flamboyant dance with life and among the year's best films. It is too much and just right at the same time. A tall and fatty temptation, not unlike many of the best dishes of the Italian kitchen, which one will want to return to many a time.

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2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  

This Must Be the Place (2011) - Sorrentino's Nazi-hunting stoner cracker
The Caiman/Il Caimano (2006) - Moretti's unfunny political comedy - strictly for Italians (actor)  

Watch the trailer for the movie with English subtitles here

Cost: 9.2 mil. € or ca. 10.3 mil. $
Box office: 24.2 mil. $
= Flop
[Albeit a small flop. The film played in competition in Cannes, in Toronto International Film Festival and at other festivals, won the Best Foreign Film Oscar and Golden Globe and made its way onto many top 10 lists of the year. It grossed 2.8 mil. $ in North America (12 % of the total gross), and 9.5 mil. $ (39 %) in Italy. Its third biggest market was, curiously, the Netherlands, with 2.7 mil. $ (11 %). The Great Beauty is 91 % Certified Fresh with a critical average of 7.8 on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Great Beauty?